Justin R. Nichols, Ph.D.
Justin Nichols is a hydrologist at the New Mexico Water Science Center. He received his Doctorate, Masters, and Bachelors in Civil Engineering from the University of New Mexico with a focus on ecohydrology,
Justin Nichols was born and raised in Belen, New Mexico, attending Belen High School. After graduating high school, Justin joined the US Army, where he was stationed with the 173rd Airborne in Germany and Afghanistan. In his tours of Germany and Afghanistan, Justin started to develop his appreciation for ecosystem services, green infrastructure, and water resource management; therefore, after 4-years in the Army Justin decided to pursue his passion for resilient green infrastructure and stream restoration by attending the University of New Mexico’s Civil Engineering program. In his ungraduated program Justin became acquainted with the ecohydrology research being performed within his department, which ultimately led him to graduate with his Ph.D. in civil engineering enabling with a focus on ecohydrology. Justin’s Ph.D. research focused on the effects of changing snow precipitation and wildfires have on surface water quality and aquatic ecosystem functioning, and utilizing machine learning techniques coupled with high-frequency sonde data to estimate nutrient uptake rates within fluvial systems.